We spent the first few days of November on the East Coast of the North Island in the Hawkes Bay area for a little get-away. They are getting back to normal after the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle back in February. There were lives taken, homes lost and so many roads and bridges destroyed.
Much of the devastation was not due to the water, believe it or not. The cause of most of the problems was--is--due to logging slash washing down the hillside and filling up riverbeds. Slash is all the bits and pieces that loggers leave on the ground after they fell the trees and move on. So much of it has been scooped up, some farms just covered with the piles with no place for crops.
For some reason, pine trees grow seven times faster here than any other place, even if the quality is a bit lower, so there is a lot of logging going on. For years, we have seen slash on the hillsides and wondered why it's not sold (or even given away) as firewood since most homes outside of the big cities have a fire burner for heat.
Here are some photos...
At the mouth of the Mohaka River
Slash still caught under this bridge.
Obviously, the laws concerning slash are being reviewed.
These are just the sad side of our trip. Happier photos are on my
photo blog!
